The Mozambican Medical Association (AMM), whose professionals have been on strike since 10 July, wants to hold a walkout in Maputo this Saturday to protest about the conditions of diagnosis and treatment of patients, announcing that it will denounce the situation to international organizations.

"AMM informs the public in general and the Mozambican government in particular that it will do everything within the law to ensure that its rights and interests, as reflected in the demands, are respected and satisfied," the institution announced today in a statement quoted by Lusa.

"So much so that on August 5 [Saturday] the AMM will hold a walk in the streets of Maputo city to improve conditions for the diagnosis and treatment of patients," adds the statement, signed by the president of the association's board of directors, Milton Ussene Tatia.

The current strike period, initially for 21 days, began on July 10 and last Friday the doctors decided in a general assembly to extend it for another 21 days, while the Mozambican executive said on Tuesday that professionals who miss work due to the strike will be held responsible.

"The government will not only continue to do its work in terms of registering absences to hold the absent doctors accountable, but has also been thinking about strategies to solve this problem," said the spokesman for the Council of Ministers of Mozambique, Filimão Suaze.

The AMM also said in the statement that "in the state of democratic law and social justice, as Mozambique is, the practice of conduct aimed at penalizing or illegally limiting the exercise of the fundamental rights and freedoms of state officials and agents without foundation is expressly forbidden".

He adds that Mozambique "has made several regional and international commitments regarding the promotion and protection of health with the consequent valorization of doctors and development of the health sector."

However, it criticizes the government for the "malicious and negligent way in which it is destroying the National Health Service and marginalizing the medical profession", which "gives the AMM room to question the relevant institutions in the health sector", namely the African Union and the United Nations.

"Due to the seriousness of the situation, the AMM also intends to carry out an evaluation of successive governments in the health sector since Mozambique's independence in order to award the prize for the worst government that has managed this sector in the country, and from there give room for the appropriate investigations into the reasons that led to such destructive conduct for the appropriate accountability actions," he added.

Prior to the release of this statement, the spokesperson for the Council of Ministers had announced on Tuesday, after the government meeting, that at least 60 new doctors would be hired as part of the strategy defined by the executive, reiterating that four points out of a total of five demands raised by the medical profession had been overcome.

"We have to share that of the five points we had to satisfy during the month of July, four have been exceeded, with one concerning overtime until 2020, which is now almost 80% satisfied," Filimão Suaze said at the time.

AMM said in its statement that the government "stubbornly disregards" the memoranda and agreements previously reached with the medical profession, denouncing the "violation of acquired salary rights, plus allowances of various kinds and other conditions for the medical profession to work with a minimum of dignity".

The AMM insists that "it has always been committed to guaranteeing the minimum services", which "has never failed to happen" in this strike, which is in its third phase since it was called with notice on October 28, 2022. (Lusa)